Whispers in the Dark

<div align=center>"Then welcome to the Demons Lair"

The Succubus grinned at that, stepping closer to the doors, a remnant of the old church and pushed, as the two large wooden doors swung inwards the shark man would be treated to something more than a little surprising! The interior of this little hole-in-the-wall was larger than its exterior suggested! Naamah was quick to step inside, shaking her hands slightly as she made her way inside, de-consecrated or not there was still more than enough residual energy in the doors to make her grimace every time she entered.

Past the two wooden doors that led into the old church was a foyer, to the left hand side something that looked like a coat check for a fancy restaurant was manned by a smiling young woman who greeted the succubus with a bright smile and a familiar tone, clearly the pair knew each other! But Naamah would wave Lelei over, inviting him to join her at this little 'check in area'

"If you have any weapons, or any money you want to leave behind, perhaps your cuffs and tools leave them with Melissandra here, she'll see to it that they're kept safe, a lot of guests leave their weapons and coats here and they have never had a successful theft"

Of course part of the reason for that might have been that Mellisandra herself was once a master thief, she had already taught Naamah more than a few tricks for getting in and out of places unseen, coupled with the Architects use of multidimensional geometries she had no difficulties in safeguarding the goods left by visitors to the club.

Whether Lelei chose to leave anything with Mellisandra or not the Succubus would lead the shark man next to an archway that led into the club proper, it was there that the skewed dimensions of this place would become far more apparent! The ground floor of the club was perhaps twice as wide as the dimensions of the church from the outside would have suggested, in the far left corner of the club a raised platform was surrounded by little booths, booths currently filled with women watching the performer on the stage.

"Oh damn, that's right it's ladies night on the ground floor"

The performer they watched was a sight to behold, a painted circle on the stage would easily be identified, even by those without any actual working knowledge of magic as a mystic circle, it glowed faintly and illuminated the oiled figure of a slender, but well toned man dressed in little more than a loincloth at this stage, but by the clothes that the women in the booths surrounding the stage attested he hadn't exactly started out in this state of undress!

A pair of short horns protruded through the handsome males short brown hair and a spade tipped tail licked at the air behind him as he danced for the pleasure of the women who had gathered after whatever nefarious deeds they had already performed for the night.

While the club was certainly not packed full there were perhaps more people here than Lelei would have anticipated, for a club that only the darker underbelly of the city really knew about there were a more than a few people here dancing, enjoying the music! The lighting was kept fairly dim and if Lelei could snap his attention away from the performing Incubus he would catch the scent of sweat and arousal so thick it was no wonder the Succubus was walking on air!

A bar stretched for the entirety of the right hand wall, stained glass windows spaced every so often would have allowed light to stream in during the daylight hours, bathing this place in a strange radiance, but even in the darkness, illuminated only by the lights from the city those stained glass windows still were a remarkable sight. Naamah slipped through the crowd with a practiced ease, reaching for Lelei's hand to guide him through the dancing figures about him while she led him to the bar.

"The upper floor is a more... Private club, with specialized VIP rooms, the basement contains a fighting ring, if you don't want to pay for your drinks you can always fight in The Pit and if you win three fights in a row then drinks are on the house all night. The top floor holds a small number of offices where Archie works and also an infirmary just in case.

Well? What do you think?"

She grinned at that, a wide, wicked little grin, the VIP rooms were always a big draw for those with money to blow and the services offered tended to be rather tantalizing to those who sought them, the fighting arena too tended to be a fun little draw, and no matter what happened the house always made money, the most remarkable thing however would likely be noted by Lelei as he looked towards the bar, a number of certificates and permission documents were framed there, hanging on the wall, they contained the bars liquor license, the results of the healthcare examinations which were impeccable, even the safety rating, thanks to the Architects fine work was beyond that achieved by most buildings, it was up to fire code, and the infirmary upstairs was certified to be of almost hospital standard.

Not only was this little hole-in-the-wall a place for the darker aspect of the city to relax and enjoy themselves, it was a legal establishment as well! Did they know about the fighting pit? A signed certificate on the wall granted permission as long as fights were controlled and medical aid was readily on hand. No lethal fights were permitted, and only volunteers could fight, no one would be forced to fight.

The succubus watched Lelei's face, grinning all the while as she revealed more of the secrets of this place, but still she guided him till they could both take a seat at the bar.

"Sex on the Beach for me, and whatever my new friend wants, can you let Archie know I'm here for the night?"

The male bartender behind the counter, dressed in an almost skintight vest that did little to hide his muscular chest, and a pair of chaps that exposed his hind quarters nodded, waiting for Lelei's order before preparing their drinks, and if he chose not to drink then he would go about making Naamah's drink alone.</div>

<div align=center>Mellisandra was used to worse, she took Lelei's smile as it was intended and offered her own bright, genuine smile in return, she didn't bother handing him a ticket like most coat check places however, something told her she'd recognize him again when he went to leave. As they proceeded into the club proper she squirreled his things away into a pocket dimension built into the rear of the closet behind her, even if someone were to break in here his things would still be safe unless they had her willing co-operation to open the path to the stored items.

As Lelei asked to see the private rooms though Naamah could not help but shoot him a broad little grin, he was so cutely naive and she couldn't wait to see what he thought of the rooms, she now fully intended to show him and after she had been presented with her drink and Lelei had received his as well, a slight encrusting of sea salt on one side of the rim of the glass presented Lelei with the option of drinking it through purified sea salt direct from the oceans of Manta Carlos or through the untainted rim so he could savor the pure flavor.

"I suppose a tour is in order my friend, bring your drink with you we'll go via The Pit, you deserve to see the whole thing I think, as for my job, it depends on what I want to do, in a place like this I can work as a waitress, a dancer or an escort, even a masseuse if I feel like it, Archie knows all the benefits of having Succubi and Incubi working in his club, we do tend to have a lot more flexibility than most of his workers"

She gave a light, musical little laugh with that, sipping at her drink with one hand and reaching for Lelei's hand again so she could lead him further towards the back of the club, the left hand side of the club where the Incubus danced revealed a door hidden behind a curtain with a plate reading V.I.P, clearly that was the entrance to the second floor, but Naamah led Lelei first to the right hand side, closest to the bar where an open archway led to a set of stairs that curved downwards, there was something... Unusual about those stairs however, they were wider and taller than humans would have needed, the very stairs seemed designed to take more weight than humans too!

The large shark man would find no difficulty in following his guide deeper into the bowels of the club, at no point was his head even close to the ceiling! But as they proceeded deeper the scent of lust gave way for the most part to the scent of blood and sweat, to a more primal and violent collection of smells that might make the law abiding shark man a little more nervous!

Unlike the first floor the Arena on this level was well illuminated, a recessed pit was set into the floor, a large ovoid enclosed by a fence of metal engraved with unusual runes, while Lelei would not know the purpose of the runes perhaps he would be able to guess based on what was going on right before his eyes!

Within the Pit a human stood face to face with a minotaur twice his size, the human however did not seem the slightest bit afraid, instead he sprung towards the powerful creature, diving low and quickly spinning around the massive figure of the Minotaur, he was displaying a rather impressive martial skill and agility and at the far end of the arena betting was brisk as men and women both placed their wagers on who would triumph! The Minotaur was big and strong, but the man was fast, agile and clearly very skilled!

Naamah was quick to address any concerns that Lelei would have though, speaking softly, but loud enough so he could hear her.

"Well? What do you think? Here people can test their skills and practice more combat oriented abilities that the Academy wouldn't normally be able to handle well, sure there is the training room that creates holograms and such, but there's nothing like fighting a real fight with real opponents you can't easily predict, thanks to the runes on the Fence any stray magic is absorbed and converted into electrical energy for the entire building, if someone is injured they are transported directly to the infirmary where they are immediately treated. Some people are branded as violent just because of their powers, here they can work out those aggressive tendencies and learn to control them better, there is very little risk of death and all competitors sign waivers before fighting, the betting helps to make things more affordable for everyone and provides a revenue stream for the Architect, by offering free food and drinks to victors he can draw quite a few fighters here"

She gestured to a portcullis on either end of the enclosed, recessed oval of the Arena pit and explained that when a fight began each portcullis would rise, revealing the two fighters to one another, sometimes the matches would seem very unfair and sometimes they would seem very fair, but they were determined randomly and some amazing upsets had happened here!

After her little spiel on the Pits however she would again take Lelei's hand, leading him to a second set of stairs that led to the Pit, again this second stairway was curtained off with a plaque reading V.I.P but Naamah brushed it to one side and began to lead the way up.

There was definitely something wrong with the dimensions of this building, Lelei would surely notice it again as he made his way up the stairs, they were rising only the same amount they had descended when entering the Pits in the first place! This should have brought them back to the main room of the club, but instead Naamah brushed aside a second curtain at the top of the stairs revealing a slightly darker club than the main room! It was illuminated only by small lights studded into the floor and lights that shone down on a number of tables scattered throughout this second floor!

Lelei would be greeted by both men and women of different species, including what looked like stock standard humans performing on table top, surrounded by men and women reclining on cushions and sipping drinks brought to them by servers who flitted to and fro like wraiths, her drink finished Naamah was smooth enough to deposit her empty glass on the tray carried by a passing server who paused just long enough to receive the glass before moving on without a word, but with a brilliant smile.

"Despite appearances the second floor isn't really all that more expensive or exclusive than the first floor, here everyone can be a V.I.P for a night, with dancers who come to your table to perform just for you and your friends or the servers who are professional and skilled at their jobs, this place can be a haven among the Underground"

But Naamah was not yet done, she pulled Lelei off to one side, making her way towards a door that was illuminated by a light set into it close to the handle, she turned it and led him inside.

Unlike the rest of this club the private room was well illuminated, it was spacious as well and contained a long bench type seat crafted of a faux fur that looked as though it could double as a bed, set into a raised platform further back in the room a hot tub waited for bathers with the scent of fresh, clean steam, products designed for maintaining ones cleanliness, from scale polish to shampoos to body oils for massages could be seen tucked neatly into place.

Above the faux fur bench/bed a number of mystic circles were affixed to paper with names above them, Naamah was quick to explain that they were summoning circles that allowed people to summon a server of their choice, to call someone they had used before or to try someone new, not all resulted in an immediate summon however, others worked more like an alarm bell, alerting the person in question that someone wanted them, if a host or hostess was unavailable his or her name would not be present on the scraps of paper above the bed! The entire club it seemed was designed using magic, every little facet of it seemed to involve some form of special ability! And there was only one place the skilled people who made this place could have come from... The Academy! Was this a place built by graduates?

Naamah immediately made her way to the faux fur bench and sank into its warm embrace, stretching out her legs and stretching her arms over her head in delight to be off her feet.

"Well?"

Was all she said, and she hadn't shown him the most controversial function of these V.I.P rooms yet!</div>

<div align=center>"I understand my friend, more than you might think, the worst thing is that people can be singled out for their needs, for their passions, it is something about human society that is just... Wrong"

For a moment the Succubus' eyes narrowed slightly in her own irritation, why on earth did humans feel the need to make one another feel bad about their own natural desires, their own needs! Admittedly, breaking those conventions, forcing mortals to confront parts of their own sexuality that they were ashamed of always gave the most amazing energies!

The demoness smiled faintly as Lelei mentioned he had different tastes, all mortals did, it was part of why Succubi and Incubi learned how to alter their shapes, so they could meet many different mortal desires! But Naamah, vindicated in her instincts let her eyes rise to Lelei's face, for a moment the room about him would swim out of focus and he would begin to see water surrounding him.

He would still be able to feel the room about him, he would still be able to smell the Succubus and the scent of the steam, but Naamah was projecting an image of one of her 'co-workers' into the mind of the shark man! A streak of grey swum past the shark man, a diminutive, lithe figure, with a tail much like Lelei's own, unlike the Incubus and the bartender downstairs this figure was much less... Masculine, his features were smoother, less angular than most humans, a rather distinctive blowhole on his back and a smooth fin allowed him to swim easily through the water that Lelei could see in his minds eye.

He was smooth, he was fluid in his movements and he was quick as well, as he made his way for the surface he breached with a powerful leap, arching through the air and re-entering the water with only the smallest of splashes! He turned, he arched around within the water and began to swim back towards Lelei's point of reference, his grey skin gleaming in the light that pierced the oceans surface.

But then Naamah let the image fade, reclining on the faux fur bench she was the very image of a lazy feline, savoring any reaction that Lelei had towards the images she was choosing to show him!

"His name is Vari, I'm not sure if its short for anything but he loves offering a more exotic touch for male clients, he doesn't really have anything against girls but he's just not attracted to them, he's a huge fan of swimming as you might imagine and enjoys taking any clients out into the ocean as well, especially on moonlit nights"

She was truly hyping up poor Vari, but something told her that the dolphin lad was going to enjoy meeting someone else with an aquatic nature! They were after all very rare on land! Why would they want to step out on land! But despite her own curiosity Naamah knew that whatever had brought Vari and Lelei on land was doubtless personal, something she shouldn't stick her nose into!

Of course, being the curious creature that she was restraining herself was more than a little difficult. She patted the bench/bed beside her in invitation to Lelei, knowing it would easily accommodate his weight, his tail might have been a problem, but the Succubus wanted to let him relax as well.

"But I think that's all you need to know about this place at least for now, when you head back down to the bar on the first level talk to the bartender about setting up a tab, but if you ever wind up running low on funds I'm sure the Arena would welcome you as a fighter, and even if you don't want to fight you could always wager on the results"

If Lelei chose to join her on the soft bench she would lean in to place a small kiss on his cheek before rising to her own feet.

"Enjoy yourself my friend, thank you for your company, we did meet in an interesting way, but I hope we see each other again, in less suspicious circumstances"

The succubus would leave if Lelei decided to accept her offer to relax, but once she was done leaving him within the private room she would make her way downstairs, bidding farewell to the bartender before slipping out into the gathering dawn! It was time to head home, not this fake home, but she had to head back to the dorms before classes started in the morning!</div>